Paid for ai art work from Deposit Photos
Would Jesus Overturn Tables Today?
The common understanding of Jesus’ last days on earth marks our modern calendar, as the Monday before his death, when an event occurred. Jesus entered the Temple in Jerusalem and saw tables that had previously been used for unscrupulous business deals present. After carefully praying about what to do, He handcrafted a whip to chase out the thieves and overturned their tables loaded with money and goods. His love for God the Father and the holiness of God’s temple was sacred enough for him to show a side of His character that shocked all. Would Jesus overturn tables today in God’s house of the 21st century? I would say an emphatic YES!
We need look no further than a simple verse and examine just a handful of instances where the prophecy of Luke 12:2 is being fulfilled “The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all.” Seldom does a day go by that the dirty secrets of both men and women are not revealed to our eyes and ears. One word tells us loudly of many of the world’s leaders acting badly with their power, greed, and lusts – Epstein! We could talk all day long about those who have been shamed (but not punished by the laws of the land sadly) and the disgusting behavior that God has let the world see, just a touch of the evils that permeate our society from the top to the bottom. But the adage applies ‘Thou shalt not judge’ and ‘Jesus words ‘“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you” as the sins of mankind are upon ALL of us. We have laws of the land and the ultimate judgment of death that will take place when Jesus returns to cover all that. All have sinned and fall short of God’s Holy standard so we leave the judging of every man and woman’s heart up to God. Those who choose to keep on living as if there are no consequences are already judged. That is what Good Friday and Easter are about. I share my many woes and how God’s grace affects each of us. If you do not have a personal relationship with this Jesus I speak of, please read my personal story of how I came to the realization years ago and how God ‘saved’ a wretch like me and can do the same for you and everyone else too, if you choose. I have other stories of how I turned away and was thankfully given a chance to start over again. I am far from one to judge anyone and write to help those who want motivation to keep on fighting in a difficult world.
This topic is Holy Monday, which deals with God’s people. Many, including Christians, do not understand the difference. The Good news is for ALL people, and God judges our hearts and decides who will spend eternity with Him and who will not. It says, when the time comes, there will be a lot of surprises as we don’t know what goes on behind closed doors in others’ lives. The secrets revealed now are minor compared to most. We want to hear affirmations that we are good, but sorry, we’re not. I prefer to err on the direct side and ‘work out my salvation with fear and trembling’. Phil 2:12 Taking a week to get a good, healthy dose of hearing what price Jesus paid because of us, goes a lot further than fluffy affirmations of don’t worry, God still loves you anyway.
Do you know in the church body that we are called to do the seemingly exact opposite of judge not lest you be judged? If that is true, then no doubt Jesus would certainly be turning over tables – in fact, He has been doing it with regularity lately. I will not list them, as this focus is on Holy week, you can do your own research all day long and find plenty of revelations. I will focus on what Paul said (Paul who was called directly by God to write HOW the Jesus CHRISTian church is supposed to operate. The church is supposed to protect the ‘Holy’ ness of the church – here it is in expanded English:
“I wrote you in my previous letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not meaning the immoral people of this world, or the greedy ones and swindlers, or idolaters, for then you would have to get out of the world and human society altogether! But actually, I have written to you not to associate with any so-called Christian brother if he is sexually immoral or greedy, or is an idolater devoted to anything that takes the place of God, or is a reviler who insults or slanders or otherwise verbally abuses others, or is a drunkard or a swindler—you must not so much as eat with such a person. For what business is it of mine to judge outsiders (non-believers)? Do you not judge those who are within the church to protect the church as the situation requires? God alone sits in judgment on those who are outside [the faith]. Remove the wicked one from among you expel him from your church.” 1 Corinthians 5:9-13 AMP
Add in 1 Cor 6:3 – “Do you not know that we believers will judge angels? How much more than as to matters of this life?” I did not ask the question; the Bible put the? marks in there. I will ask this, though – Do you understand that Paul is instructing the body, not just the leaders, that our job as believers is going to get bigger in heaven (judging angels), therefore, we should all the more be involved in policing those in the body of Christ?
I know quite well this, of course, would not be received in too many corners in our Western church world. But minimally, the leadership teams and those in the pulpit must have accountability in relation to the abuse of women and children. We have more than accepted allowing book sales and music copyright income to pay for private jets and mansions for mega-church Pastors, we think earned it. Although if you look at the expose on Hillsong out of Australia, you wonder if it is doing good for those who ended up losing their faith from the scandals within the organization.
I do know Jesus is well aware of what is going on, and yes, the proverbial tables are being turned over via public revealing of scandals. I trust He uses the cases being brought to the public, whether the church itself did it or not, will cause other leaders doing the things that have not been brought to light yet, to repent and cease their closeted actions and accounting abuses too. I continue to read from some defending the actions of long super-leaders that have recently stepped down and telling people, “you should never shame anyone, especially leaders of God who served for years”. I suggest those defending instead speak on behalf of their victims and carefully read what is supposed to happen to ‘ELDERS’, aka Pastors who are caught in a scandal after having refused to repent after private meetings (in some cases many):
Regarding Elders – 1 Timothy 5:19-21 “Do not accept an accusation against an elder unless it is based on the testimony of at least two or three witnesses. As for those [elders] who continue in sin, reprimand them in the presence of all the congregation, so that the rest will be warned. 21 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His chosen angels that you guard and keep these rules without bias.“
Folks, those are not my words, they are straight from the Bible. I personally have been hurt in a roundabout way by a few of the people that have been found guilty by courts of law and/or video evidence brought forward. All because the church leaders cared more about protecting the donation button and reputation than dealing with the abuse of people. And more important, the shame brought upon the church that Jesus laid His life down for.
Jesus answered one time to a group of people who asked about a building crash that killed several people. In Luke 13:5 Jesus mentions that a tower in Siloam collapsed, killing 18 people. He uses this tragedy to say, “I tell you, no; but unless you repent change your old way of thinking, turn from your sinful ways and live changed lives, you will all likewise perish.” Holy week is not about talking about everyone else (yes, I have to get the points across, I know) but using it to turn inward and look at our own hidden secrets and seek forgiveness and help for God’s grace to overcome temptations and areas we struggle in. It is also the time for the church itself as a whole to ratchet up our inward issues, whatever they may be, and be prepared for the harvest that the Lord is ready to bring. The last thing we evangelist types want is to bring new believers into the fold and have them chased off by the things we preach not to do, being on display in the place we say is clean.
Happy Holy Monday, but don’t think I’ve finished yet. I have only just begun. Bookmark this for more lessons, with a deeper dive on the pocketbook. Or if still having some time to study keep on going…
Please don’t go away yet! Read below the red line for more. If this is your first time visiting Average Joe’s Portico, every post is written in two parts. You have just read the portion challenging the mind, body, and soul. In or on The Portico (as in Solomon’s Portico or porch), I seek to tap into your spiritual side, but only IF YOU DARE. If you are in a mood of ‘don’t shove God down my throat’, this part is not for you, it is your out. Otherwise, Keep reading past the Red Line Below and read Part 2 for the Spiritual side of this story. (For an explanation of this creative writing attempt – read the ‘Do You Dare’ Tab)
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This is an excerpt from a mini-book written 3 years ago from JoesPortico titled Why I write for free
Church and money have oft been a division point for many. How much is too much pay, how much is too little? An old joke is said about religious leaders that there is only one thing that all religious leaders across the world share, whether Rabbis, Christian Pastors/Priests, Prophets, Muslims, Mormons, or any other, and that is an agreement that tithing is an absolute requirement. Most agree tithing must be a minimum of 10%.
1 Corinthians 9 is a good lesson on the importance of ensuring leaders are paid for their time so they can focus on preaching and not be held back with financial burdens, likened to muzzling an ox. I recommend as always reading the whole of chapter 9 for the full context.
The Corinthian leaders, ‘Apostles,’ and ‘Prophets’ wrangled with Paul over his authority, despite him being the one who brought the Gospel message to them. They were quite tight on managing the funds as Paul in a rarity was forced to discuss finances with them. Church leaders often use this section to implore members to contribute to the local church. I am in agreement that giving is a New Testament thing. I do not agree with the 10% tithing mantra and requirements some pose as if we are under the law. Certainly, ALL curses were broken when Jesus took them all upon Himself as a sacrifice for all. Anyone saying if you do not tithe you will be cursed is teaching a false doctrine, eliminating Grace. We are to give out of an overflow of love, not out of compulsion or required law.
Just so no one misinterprets what that means; I believe a measure of giving (a better term than tithing) is best put by saying – give as much as you are Spirit-led to give – somewhere between 100% (not an in stone 10%) like Luke 9:23 says: “Jesus said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” (the Cross represents ALL-in 100%)
and
1 Timothy 5:8 “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” This writing is not about the tithe topic. But I add, having worked with financially strapped young folks with families, there are many principles of finances in the Bible that should be deployed in the area of giving, saving, and providing, not written laws from those who benefit from a doctrine. We certainly believe giving is important, but I do not think you tell a person to give exactly 10% minimally of their welfare check to the church, the day they get saved, in order to fix their financial problems to be blessed and/or removed from a curse. Grace and balance are important to understand.
Back to Paul, his response to being questioned about his position as an Apostle in the NLT version was: “9:3 This is my answer to those who question my authority. 4 Don’t we have the right to live in your homes and share your meals?… 6 Or is it only Barnabas and I who have to work to support ourselves? 7 What soldier has to pay his own expenses? What farmer plants a vineyard and doesn’t have the right to eat some of its fruit? What shepherd cares for a flock of sheep and isn’t allowed to drink some of the milk? .. 9 For the law of Moses says, “You must not muzzle an ox to keep it from eating as it treads out the grain.” Was God thinking only about oxen when he said this? 10 Wasn’t he actually speaking to us? Yes, it was written for us, so that the one who plows and the one who threshes the grain might both expect a share of the harvest.”
Typically though, in most sermons on tithing Chapter 9 is closed at this point and we flip to Malachi 3. But Paul tells what he did despite having the ‘right‘ to expect some compensation/pay for his full-time work: 15 Yet I have never used any of these rights. And I am not writing this to suggest that I want to start now. In fact, I would rather die than lose my right to boast about preaching without charge. 16 Yet preaching the Good News is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn’t preach the Good News!
17 If I were doing this on my own initiative, I would deserve payment. But I have no choice, for God has given me this sacred trust.
18 What then is my pay? It is the opportunity to preach the Good News without charging anyone.”
And I love this part as Paul answers the question of the title of this story as he continues in verse 18 – “That’s why I never demand my rights when I preach the Good News.” Another translation of the Bible spells it out in modern terms:
“So what is my pay? My pay is to tell the good news and not be paid for it! That is why I do not use my right to take pay for telling the good news.” 1 Corinthian 9:18 (WE)
Although Paul was a full-fledged Apostle, Prophet, and Evangelist, he was also a tentmaker by trade. “Paul lived and worked with them, for they were tentmakers just as he was. ” Acts 18:3 He made some of his money from side hustles. If you review American history, nearly all of the preachers in the early days did normal work like everyone else and preached for free on Sundays. It was only later in the industrialized world that full-time paid ministry came into play. With the Corinthians, we saw he preached to them for free. They did not have to buy him a first-class ticket and pay for his hotel for conference visits. In fact, a never quoted verse that should be a remarkable one, ends the book of Acts by telling us that Paul spent two years in Rome, all at his own expense!
“For the next two years, Paul lived in Rome at his own expense. He welcomed all who visited him, boldly proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ. And no one tried to stop him.” Acts 28:30-31 AMP
Why was Paul compelled to do ministry without pay? Perhaps he followed Jesus’ teaching and went all-in with the 100% “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” Matthew 10:8 AMP Paul’s WRITING’s were all out in every area, not just money; “Be kind and helpful to one another, tender-hearted [compassionate, understanding], forgiving one another [readily and freely], just as God in Christ also forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32 AMP
I was inspired by another person who has a website where he charges nothing and has no ads or popups, his name is Mark Lane. (click on his name for the website filled with great wisdom on the Hebrew language and Biblical Numbers) Mark was asked in the comments of one page, that somehow I stumbled on the comment written in 2015) why he put 1000’s of page of info on the web for free?, here was his amazing answer:
“Can you imagine the frustration of finding something so precious as this and not knowing how to tell others? To enter into this sanctuary is to come out again with a calling to share this knowledge. My own conscience requires that I publish freely what I receive freely. Because of the internet, I can do just that.”
I thought about stealing his quote from 2015 and making it my own; who would have known? God would, that’s who. So I gave this man full credit for giving the best answer to my own story title of Why I Write for Free.
Another man had this to say about modern fundraising for churches and ministries. He is a Pastor and has seen 30,000 physical healings in his 72 years of living. I have no such credentials. So for those requiring more evidence of physical fruit, degrees, and theology school for validity, I quote Pastor and Author Dr. Roger Sapp from a thought provoking Facebook post:
Overcoming Traditional Thinking about Finances
“I would like to recommend that ministries, churches and Christian individuals never tell other people about their financial needs. We have never told other people about our financial needs. We have only told the Lord. We have seen Him answer and abundantly supply our needs many times. When this happens, He gets all the glory.
Some ministries and many Christians are in the bad habit of telling everyone what they need. This short-circuits the supernatural in finances and binds you to the natural. Sometimes God does use other people to supply. However, when you tell other people about your needs and then they help you, it produces an unclear and weak testimony. God gets little glory for helping you. Instead, pray about your need and believe that He has heard you and will help you. Keep everything to yourself until the supply comes. Then, give God all the glory.
Many Christians and ministries seem to be working FB and sending out mass emails to obtain money from other Christians. You need to understand that authentic documents from the Early Church – “the Didache” – tell us that the Early Church believed that if anyone in ministry asked for money, they were identifying themselves as a false prophet and a person of bad character.
The Early Church believed that someone in ministry should be able to receive from the Lord without telling anyone about the need. They also believed that the Holy Spirit could move people to help without them being told about the need. Hopefully, you can come to believe what the Early Church believed. “ Dr Roger Sapp
While these two are exemplary examples, I must mention some counter-activity. I will not mention a name, but it was a very recent video by one who is considered a modern ‘prophet.’ Frankly, I could pick many who do the same thing with constant promotions of their books, conferences, teaching series and requests for donations in all of their publications. One started a video saying he had the most important and the greatest dream of his life about our future and the coming of Armageddon. He shared a single verse from Revelations and went on about how this great vision that God told him was a must-read for everyone. After five minutes of working up the listener’s emotions, he then said to obtain this important message from God, you will have to buy his latest book for the message.
Jesus said that John the Baptist was the greatest prophet of all time before Jesus’ arrival. He lived in the wilderness, eating grasshoppers and berries. Can you imagine Elijah or Elisha or Isaiah pre-empting or closing out a prophetic message from God by asking people to pay for a written scroll to read it?
A year ago, when I was sitting in the graveyard and saw the tombstone of Mr. Proffitt’, I was thinking about the misspelling of the money term ‘profit.’ My heart was lamenting a new hotel being built above a beautiful waterfall in downtown, Greenville, SC. Workers were dangling dangerously from scaffolds with cables while they painted the sides of the multi $million facility. The natural landscape was being destroyed, and lives were in danger (probably making $12 an hour), as they were in the days of building pyramids in Egypt when another Prophet named Moses delivered the Israelites from slavery.
The Israelites were given everything freely (Manna & meat, water in the desert, shoes that never wore out) by God via a man who gave up a life of luxury and authority he had in the palace of Pharaoh. God expected that those delivered be thankful and faithful to what God had given them. Moses understood his role and sacrificed profits to be a prophet and to be a deliverer of God’s message. Oh, that our leaders today would set aside the need for greed and deliver people with the Gospel message of Jesus Christ in His church today.
I end with an important calling that Jesus told in Luke 16; it is in line with the goal that all Christians hope to hear (from Matt 25:21) when their time to meet Him arises. We want to hear ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant.’ I fear that too many are spending their time trying to be ‘influential’ servants rather than faithful ones. The striving for influence and likes on social media is similar to striving for more money. How much does one need? I found myself caught up with the same desire after seeking advice on writing success. I needed to repent.
God doles out different amounts of talent, gifts, and even finances for each of us. Why it varies, I cannot answer. What is important to Him is not whether we are below average, average, or above – it is how faithful we are with what He has given us freely: 10 “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. 11 And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? 12 And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own? 13 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.”
14 The Pharisees, who dearly loved their money, heard all this and scoffed at him. 15 Then he said to them, “You like to appear righteous in public, but God knows your hearts. What this world honors is detestable in the sight of God.
16 “Until John the Baptist, the law of Moses and the messages of the prophets were your guides. But now the Good News of the Kingdom of God is preached, and everyone is eager to get in. Luke 16:10-16 NLT
Finding the balance on so many topics has taken me many years to grasp, and requires constant evaluation. Money and seeking influence/power are good measuring sticks to test ourselves. How we react when our influence seems nil or our bank account shrinks is telling. As mentioned in part I we have recently seen some major church leaders have major stumbles in their faithfulness. Those make the headlines; but how many average Joe’s/Jo’s have stumbled as well. We must be careful not to judge the success of some as greatness or the little bit of another to be a failure. A little old blog is just as important to God as is the mega church Pastor or the million-seller Christian author. Provided that the Good News of the Kingdom of God is preached. Just be sure we are serving God and are not enslaved to money or influence or anything else.
Holy Monday and looking at Jesus Oneness with the His and now Our Father was so strong He overturned tables in His house. Is our passion on the same level as His? My prayer is this time motivates each of us to get our personal house in order and filled with the Holiness that THE Holy Spirit that lives inside us brings. God bless on this Holy Monday or whatever day of the week that brought you here to read this mini-book today!
P.S. – Please comment or ask a question in the block below that says ‘I’d love to hear your comments on this topic’. We all love interaction and opinions from readers and I don’t claim to be an expert on anything. I do not like pop-up ads, sign-up requests, book/conference promos, and requests for donations everywhere, don’t you? But, getting the word out about new posts for a 100% free-to-you website is a tough task on social media. If you would like to be notified about new posts and occasional insiders-only heart-pours, pop me a quick email to JoesPortico@gmail.com, and I’ll add you to my mailing list.
P.S. I do no advertising, but I do want to advertise one special thing to me, it is my son’s YouTube Page. He has a cartoon that started as a comic book written when he was in 2nd grade. It is about a fictional character with a weird name of King Swabber Knoffer. You’ll find the page here, and he has about 50 cartoons he hand-created (no AI junk) all in order from the very first to the latest on a PlayList here. They’re all funny (in my opinion) and include subtle life lessons with friends with an occasional spiritual story throughout a cartoon for all ages, kind of like SpongeBob, but this idea was way before that era.
